How do I move Exchange Server to a new server?

A. There are two ways: the hard way and the Ed Crowley way. The hard way is to do a complete backup of the old server, then restore the backup to the new server. How hard this actually is depends on your configuration. Even if the backup and restore are easy to accomplish, you must remove the old server before setting up the new one (because you can’t have two servers with the same name at the same time), and that means you run an increased risk of downtime.

In contrast, the Ed Crowley Server Move Method requires you to set up your new server in parallel with the old one, cutting over to the new one only when you're sure it's working properly. To use the Ed Crowley Server Move Method, perform the following steps:

Bring up a new server as a new server in the same site. Use a different name for the new server. If you need to move Exchange to another server with the same name, follow the instructions in the Microsoft article “XADM: How to Move Exchange Server to a New Computer with the Same Name” (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q155/2/16.asp).

To move user mailboxes to the new server, start Microsoft Exchange Administrator, click Tools, and select Move Mailbox. You can move all the mailboxes at once, one at a time, or several at a time. In many cases, you can move mailboxes during working hours because each user is locked out of his or her mailbox only while that mailbox is being moved.

Create replicas of the public folders on the new server. When the contents of the folders have been replicated (do wait a little while!), remove the folders from the old server.

Create new connectors on the new servers. Change the costs of the old connectors you're replacing to be higher than the new ones, then recalculate routing.

Create mail exchanger (MX) records pointing to the new Internet Mail Service (IMS) as appropriate, and change the cost on the old MX record so that it’s higher than the costs on the new records. When you’ve verified that messages are flowing across the new connectors, remove the old ones, then recalculate routing again.

Leave the old server up for a while to give Messaging API (MAPI) clients time to connect to the new server automatically ( the old server provides referrals to the new one). It's true—you don't have to reconfigure MAPI clients!

Tell POP3 and IMAP4 users how to reconfigure their clients to point to the new server.

If you have a WINS or DNS alias for the old server, point it to the new server.

Stop the Exchange services on the old server, then use Exchange Administrator to delete the old server's server object, thus removing it from the site.

Discuss this Article 9

JAMAL (not verified)

on Nov 14, 2006

We have an existing server running Exchange 2000 and are looking to upgrade to a new server and to Exchange 2003. We are also considering using our current Exchange 2000 server as a front end Exchange server if possible.

You can probably use your current servers, depending on their age and configuration. Your best bet is probably to add the new Exchange 2003 server as a mailbox server, move mailboxes from the Exchange 2000 server to the Exchange 2003 server, then do an in-place upgrade on the Exchange 2000 server. Once that's done you can change the server role on the former Exchange 2000 box to make it a front-end and you'll be done.

Yes. It works with Exchange 2000. We just followed this article to successfully move from an old Gateway server to a new Compaq/HP server. It worked without a hitch and we're going to shut down the old server next week after we're pretty sure all of the Outlook clients have been referred to the new server.

hi
i will use the hard way . but i tried that backing up c drive and the system state together .and it is not working fine with me ..
do you advice me with take a backup without system state ..
i have windows 2003 ent edtion , + exchange 2003 sp1

I currently have a single Exchange 2007 server running in our domain. The server was installed back in 2008 and was scaled for 4 years of use. During this time frame a litigation hold has casted a no-delete policy over our organization. The volume on this server that hosts the mailbox store is down to its final 20GB of hard disk space. I would like to move to Exchange 2013 but have been advised by our attorneys not to do so. My only solution is to add a new exchange 2007 mailbox server which will provide more storage. What is the best procedure to follow (I have seen a few) to add this new server to my current Exchange 2007 environment?

Let's assume that you can get an Exchange 2007 license, or that you have downgrade rights, or whatever. The more interesting question is, does adding a server buy you anything?

If you add a new server, the only way you'll be able to utilize it is if you move mailboxes from the old server to the new server. That seems exactly the same (at least from a legal standpoint) as moving the mailboxes from 2007 to 2010 or 2013, although there are some differences in how holds work between the versions. Maybe that's what your attorneys are objecting to?

Regardless, adding the new server is really simple: run Exchange setup, join the existing organization, and poof, you're done.